Читать книгу Statistical Quality Control - Bhisham C. Gupta - Страница 59

Motorola, along with the early adopters of the Six Sigma methodology (General Electric, Allied Signal, and Honeywell), have all reported remarkable financial benefits. From its inception in 1986 until 2001, Six Sigma saved Motorola $16.1 billion. GE, after investing $1.6 billion in the program, delivered a $4.4 billion savings in a three‐year period. Allied Signal and Honeywell each attributed $500 million in savings to Six Sigma efforts in 1998 alone. In all, Six Sigma delivered savings on the order of 1.2 to 4.5% of company revenue [2].

The power of Six Sigma was also recognized by the US government. After implementing Six Sigma methods in 2006, the US Army claimed savings of $19.1 billion as of April 2011 [3]. In 2012, the White House praised the contributions of Six Sigma along with Lean methodology in eliminating unnecessary review steps for air and water permitting [4].

Despite these well‐publicized benefits, not everyone has a favorable view of Six Sigma practices, and some doubt its efficacy. In 2007, a study conducted by Qual Pro, a consulting firm and proponent of a competing quality improvement system, reported that 53 of 58 companies that use Six Sigma have trailed the S&P 500 ever since they implemented it [5]. Of course, there is no proof of a causal relationship between Six Sigma implementation and poor financial results. In fact, it could be argued that companies adopting Six Sigma had a compelling quality or financial reason to do so and would have fared even worse if they hadn’t adopted the program.

Others have argued that the rigor of the Six Sigma process can stymie innovation. The Six Sigma approach that is so successful in tackling problems in existing processes may have the opposite effect in research and development organizations. In these cases, the systematic, highly ordered approach may thwart the creativity necessary for cutting‐edge advances.

Another perceived drawback of Six Sigma is its heavy training burden. In an enterprise‐wide deployment, employees at all levels of the organization must be trained to some degree, with Green and Black Belts undergoing many additional hours of statistical training. This training is expensive and time‐consuming and may not yield an immediate return.